New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (66) has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections any longer for health reasons. Elected from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh in 2014, she is understood to have conveyed to BJP President Amit Shah that doctors have advised her not to take strain of contesting an election in view of her kidney transplant in December 2016.
She used to be one of the key speakers in election rallies but she has excused herself from any active role in the Assembly elections announced on Saturday. She has also informed party workers in Vidisha that she may not be able to contest from there any longer. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014, Swaraj was once counted among a few BJP leaders who can be considered for the post of the prime minister until Narendra Modi came on the horizon. Her husband is a former governor and a practising lawyer.
She is among a very few BJP leaders who can contest from any part of the country. She is also popular among both BJP and Opposition leaders. She is a member of the party’s highest decision making body of the Central Parliamentary Board, and also a member of the Central Election Committee that finalises the party ticket to the candidates.Knowing well her capabilities, the BJP may try to put her in the Rajya Sabha after the next Lok Sabha elections to utilise her services for the party in Parliament.
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